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ferraris, thank you! I wonder if there are security systems that are serviced by a separate security team and not by police.
Somewhat related, there is a private security firm called Signal 88 that patrols a few Toledo neighborhoods like the Old West End, Arlington, and maybe Old Orchard. Maybe some others too. I don't actually live in Toledo anymore, I just try to keep up with what's going on there.
Reading this thread might lead someone to believe that there is nowhere in Metro Toledo where you won't be broken into on a regular basis. Wow. I have lived in two locations in west Toledo, south Toledo, and a suburb of Toledo, Temperance, MI, and never been personally affected by crime in any way.
As far as cities like Sylvania, Perrysburg, and Maumee, part of the draw of those places for families and one of the reasons for the higher price tags is because they are considered to be so safe. I'm not saying that crime can't or doesn't happen in the suburbs, but if you actually do the research, burglaries are not nearly as common as you would be led to believe here. As I said, we lived in a suburb of Toledo, Temperance, for twelve years and neither we nor any of our friends or acquaintances who live there ever had any crime issues. It's not like you see people driving around casing neighborhoods all day long.
I just don't want the OP to get the wrong idea and think that all of Metro Toledo is a hotbed of crime 24/7. If you look at the local newspaper, The Toledo Blade, every Saturday in the second news section they print a crime map of the area and you can quickly see that most of the crime, property and otherwise, does not occur in places like Sylvania and Perrysburg. I don't prefer those places and their cookie cutter subdivisions over one of a kind historic neighborhoods like Old Orchard or Library Village, but there are reasons why people choose to live there, and feeling safer is one of them.
canudigit, thank for you post! I appreciate a lot that Toledoans share their personal experience with me. I need it very much. You made me feel more relaxed!
To echo what Canudigit was saying, my parents still live in Toledo (Arlington neighborhood), and in 30+ years the crime they've experienced was two cars stolen (both found within 24 hours), two lawn mowers stolen (no garage or shed), one broken car window, one stolen christmas decoration, and one nighttime gunshot sound too close for comfort (no victims).
That may sound like a lot, but it's really only one "major" crime every 5 years or so. And that's in a neighborhood that only has a so-so reputation. I think Toledo is pretty safe. You can worry yourself silly researching crime reports -- but you wouldn't have nearly 300,000 people living in Toledo if it was really a crime ridden hellscape. If some alarms, cameras, and a security company contract puts your mind at ease, it's worth it.
Yeah. You don't need to worry about anything crime wise in the suburbs at all. If crime/safety is an unquestionable priority for you then the suburbs are the most realistic option.
There are plenty of neighborhoods throughout the city where you most likely will ever deal with any crime as well though. I still just recommend home security systems because its good to know if someones messing with your house and even some good neighborhoods have lots of sketchy people in relatively close proximity.
My personal situation is that I live in Library Village and I need to move. My wife and I are in our early 30s and have a 2 year old daughter. For the record, we're huge Toledo cheerleaders and love everything local and independent, and our super open minded and tolerant people for the most part. Having a kid changes your priorities though. We loved our cool old house with tons of character, nestled into the city of Toledo relatively close to everything hot and new in West Toledo as well as close to everything being revitalized Downtown. Our own business corridor along Sylvania Ave has potential and has some cool businesses like Mancys Steakhouse, Boyds Retro Candy, Toledo Hemp Center, Phoenix Food Co-Op, and Glass City Coffee Roasters. Areas like LV are increasingly losing single family owners though and the houses are becoming cheap rentals. With that has come an increase in crime. At first it was just petty property crime and burglaries at worst. Now, gun shots and robberies, while not daily occurences, are too frequent and inner city gangs have crept into the neighborhood. That stuff just doesn't work for me having a small child who I'm determined to give the world too. It's unfortunate but it's where I'm at. And I'm lucky too. Most of my neighbors are stuck in their homes and couldn't move without taking a huge loss on their homes. Some paid well over 100k as recently as a decade ago and their homes are now worth half of that. I, fortunately didn't pay much for my house and mine still has a tiny bit of value, for now.....
That's the reality of some of Toledos neighborhoods.
ferraris, I hope to learn a thing or two here and avoid major crimes.
According to Forbes and USAtoday we are not making 10 and 25 most dangerous cities.
But I have discovered that Minneapolis, Minnesota is number 25!! I have been there many times, and WALKED all the downtown )) Alone and with a friend. I also walked there late at night )) Felt safe actually.
"Violent crime...Robbery is especially common..." This is what they write
Tobias C, thank you for educating me about the Library Village! What are the safest neighborhoods from your perspective? And in which order? My order is: Perrysburg (safe), Sylvania, Monclova, Maumee, Holland, Old Orchard.
I saw couple of nice homes around Swan Creek, but I presume it is a no-no in my case?
I saw couple of nice homes around Swan Creek, but I presume it is a no-no in my case?
Do you mean the creek itself or the metropark? The neighborhoods off of the Glendale side of the park are pretty nice and quiet. "South Toledo" has a bad rap due to a few bad neighborhoods, but it's really unwarranted for the most part. A large part of South Toledo is separated from those neighborhoods and is on par with oft-recommended West Toledo.
Yeah. You don't need to worry about anything crime wise in the suburbs at all. If crime/safety is an unquestionable priority for you then the suburbs are the most realistic option.
There are plenty of neighborhoods throughout the city where you most likely will ever deal with any crime as well though. I still just recommend home security systems because its good to know if someones messing with your house and even some good neighborhoods have lots of sketchy people in relatively close proximity.
My personal situation is that I live in Library Village and I need to move. My wife and I are in our early 30s and have a 2 year old daughter. For the record, we're huge Toledo cheerleaders and love everything local and independent, and our super open minded and tolerant people for the most part. Having a kid changes your priorities though. We loved our cool old house with tons of character, nestled into the city of Toledo relatively close to everything hot and new in West Toledo as well as close to everything being revitalized Downtown. Our own business corridor along Sylvania Ave has potential and has some cool businesses like Mancys Steakhouse, Boyds Retro Candy, Toledo Hemp Center, Phoenix Food Co-Op, and Glass City Coffee Roasters. Areas like LV are increasingly losing single family owners though and the houses are becoming cheap rentals. With that has come an increase in crime. At first it was just petty property crime and burglaries at worst. Now, gun shots and robberies, while not daily occurences, are too frequent and inner city gangs have crept into the neighborhood. That stuff just doesn't work for me having a small child who I'm determined to give the world too. It's unfortunate but it's where I'm at. And I'm lucky too. Most of my neighbors are stuck in their homes and couldn't move without taking a huge loss on their homes. Some paid well over 100k as recently as a decade ago and their homes are now worth half of that. I, fortunately didn't pay much for my house and mine still has a tiny bit of value, for now.....
That's the reality of some of Toledos neighborhoods.
It breaks my heart to see what's happened to Library Village, because my DH grew up there and we lived there when our kids were very little. I have a lot of happy memories of pushing them in their strollers down those wonderful tree lined streets and taking them to the West Toledo Library for story time, but things were different then. There weren't nearly as many rental homes, the recession/housing crash hadn't happened yet, and people in general were just...better, or at least that's how it seemed.
We drove through the old neighborhood one day last week and it was depressing to see how many places have been let go and look like no one cares. There used to be a lot of pride in ownership and long term homeowners in that neighborhood who raised their families there and cared very much about their homes and the condition of the neighborhood but I guess many of them are gone, although not all of them because there are still some very well kept homes, just not as many and there is more of a bad element interspersed with them now.
I don't blame you for wanting to move, we ended up moving away because our neighbor across the street had a grandson who was living in and dealing drugs out of his car in front of our house and the police didn't seem to care. Even so, the rest of the neighborhood was still a well kept, working class neighborhood when we moved in 1997, and he was definitely the exception, not the rule. We sold our house for $82,000 and the people that we sold it to then sold it for $101,000 back in the early 2000s. I don't know what they would be able to get for it now, but no way would it bring $101,000 today. Who do you blame? The banks who caused the foreclosures? The city for not making home upkeep and crime prevention a priority? I don't know, but I wish you and your family the best.
It breaks my heart to see what's happened to Library Village, because my DH grew up there and we lived there when our kids were very little. I have a lot of happy memories of pushing them in their strollers down those wonderful tree lined streets and taking them to the West Toledo Library for story time, but things were different then. There weren't nearly as many rental homes, the recession/housing crash hadn't happened yet, and people in general were just...better, or at least that's how it seemed.
We drove through the old neighborhood one day last week and it was depressing to see how many places have been let go and look like no one cares. There used to be a lot of pride in ownership and long term homeowners in that neighborhood who raised their families there and cared very much about their homes and the condition of the neighborhood but I guess many of them are gone, although not all of them because there are still some very well kept homes, just not as many and there is more of a bad element interspersed with them now.
I don't blame you for wanting to move, we ended up moving away because our neighbor across the street had a grandson who was living in and dealing drugs out of his car in front of our house and the police didn't seem to care. Even so, the rest of the neighborhood was still a well kept, working class neighborhood when we moved in 1997, and he was definitely the exception, not the rule. We sold our house for $82,000 and the people that we sold it to then sold it for $101,000 back in the early 2000s. I don't know what they would be able to get for it now, but no way would it bring $101,000 today. Who do you blame? The banks who caused the foreclosures? The city for not making home upkeep and crime prevention a priority? I don't know, but I wish you and your family the best.
It's a little bit of everything. Obviously there's the bigger picture things like the economy and everything....The city could do a better job of code enforcement but the city of Toledo is also stretched fairly thin. There could be a heavier police presence as well but once again, lack of funds and their stretched thin.
I'll be fine. My house is probably one of the most desirable houses in the neighborhood. I'll be able to move it...i won't get as much as I would like for it, even after the money I've put into it but I should still come out okay. Were planning on moving in the next year or so.
If I had to guess.....youre 101k house back then, even if it's in great condition and fairly updated and what not probably isn't worth more than 70 or 80k. That seems to be the high end of home values and prices around here. For instance.....i bought my house for 42k in 2011. It's still worth about 55k as of the last tax assessment I got and I could sell it for more. Ideally I would like to get about 68 or so for it.....but realistically I'll probably list it for 65 or 66, and wind up taking 60k for it.
ferraris, I hope to learn a thing or two here and avoid major crimes.
According to Forbes and USAtoday we are not making 10 and 25 most dangerous cities.
But I have discovered that Minneapolis, Minnesota is number 25!! I have been there many times, and WALKED all the downtown )) Alone and with a friend. I also walked there late at night )) Felt safe actually.
"Violent crime...Robbery is especially common..." This is what they write
Tobias C, thank you for educating me about the Library Village! What are the safest neighborhoods from your perspective? And in which order? My order is: Perrysburg (safe), Sylvania, Monclova, Maumee, Holland, Old Orchard.
I saw couple of nice homes around Swan Creek, but I presume it is a no-no in my case?
You're experience in Minneapolis can be experienced here. We have an up and coming downtown (obviously not comparable to Minn) but lots of new restaurants, bars, coffee shops, art galleries, loft apartments and condos, along with the main downtown attractions like Imagination Station, Valentine Theater, Toledo Museum of Art, Fifth Third Field and the Huntington Center (baseball and hockey). Downtown is pretty safe as long as you're in the populated areas where people are out and about. If you walk out of the core areas it can get a little more sketchy but downtown is quote safe for the most part. Downtown Toledo is only one part of Toledo though, just like Downtown Minneapolis is only one part of Minneapolis as a whole.
I'll give every neighborhood and suburban town that might be relevant to you a school-style grade...
Ottawa Hills. A+
Monclova. A+
Perrysburg. A+
Sylvania. A+ to A- (depending on specific area)
Oregon A
Bedford, MI. A
Rossford. A
Northwood. A
Corey Woods. A
Beverly. A
Maumee. A
Holland. A- to B-
Old Orchard A-
Lincolnshire. A-
Deveaux B+ to B-
Kenwood-Sher. B-
That's most of the areas I think you would even bother with unless youre into a more urban lifestyle in which case I could throw in
Downtown. B
Old West End. C
.......but if you're super worried about crime and safety and don't have a comfortable grasp on central city living, you might want to hold off on those areas...though they both have tons of great things to offer.
Honestly any of the places I mentioned are going to be fine. Ranking them is honestly unnecessary as they're all good and there's not a vastly substantial safety difference.
Also. This is obviously just my opinion/perception so nobody needs to jump all over it with their take.
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